NCJ Number
184234
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: 2000 Pages: 83-106
Date Published
2000
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article traces the development of law in England and the United States with respect to women and jury service from the early Anglo-Norman jury to the enactment of women’s suffrage in the United States.
Abstract
The discussion notes the limited participation of women in the legal system in medieval and early modern England, colonial America, and the United States between its formation and 1920. Trial by jury originated in a medieval society that was hierarchical and ruled by men. The jury system excluded groups or classes of men due to their legal or economic status and excluded all women due to their gender and their acknowledged roles in society as wives and mothers. Trial by jury evolved within this setting with little reference to women. However, women were involved in the legal system as defendants and litigants and later as witnesses. Trial by peers came to be regarded as a bulwark against tyranny, but the evolution of the jury system did not affect the legal and social status of women. Feminist demands in the 19th century for suffrage and equal participation in the public world made trial by jury a ender issue. However, the 19th Amendment did not end paternalistic attitudes toward women or provide an automatic opening to public life and full citizenship for women. Notes, list of cases cited, and 40 references